SoCal median home price jumps 6.4 percent

LOS ANGELES 
The median price of a home in Southern California surged 6.4 percent in June from May, as a long-stifled wave of high-end properties hit the market, a real estate tracking firm said Wednesday.

The median price in the six-county area climbed to $265,000 last month from $249,000 in May, accounting for a second consecutive month-to-month increase, MDA DataQuick said.

DataQuick attributed the jump to an increasing number of deals above $500,000, as more buyers responded to price cuts. Resales of such homes rose to 19.6 percent of all sales in June, up from a low of 13.4 percent in January.

"Sales in many higher-cost neighborhoods couldn't have gotten much lower, so this recent uptick in activity should come as no surprise," DataQuick president John Walsh said. "The recession and problem mortgages are fueling more high-end distress, hence more high-end 'bargains.'"

Last month's median was the highest since last December's $278,000, but it stood 47.5 percent below the median price of $360,000 a year ago.

Walsh said continuing difficulty obtaining large loans had suppressed the median by keeping the most expensive homes off the market, although there were some signs that available credit was increasing for buyers of such properties.

"What's missing, still, is a wide-open financing spigot for the would-be buyers of these more expensive homes," he said.

DataQuick said more than 23,000 homes closed escrow in June, up 12 percent from May and 29 percent from a year ago. Foreclosures comprised 45.3 percent of resales last month, down from 49.7 percent in May.